My experiments ran deep into the night and offered better results than I expected. There wasn’t much time until the first stray beams of sunlight would appear, so I made a rush to finish things up.

  Is it almost daytime already? I seriously spaced out there for a while. I never thought I’d have so much luck with my skills, but I can say confidently that I’m stronger than before. I gave a confident grin at the floating screens in front of me.

  The conclusion I came to was that my Construct skill was a lot more amazing than I initially thought. Not only could it bend any non-living object I channelled magic into, but it acted as a perfect aid to my other skills.

  I then moved on to the other skill I knew little about, Parasite.

  {Parasite}

  {When attacked by a Mana-based attack, the user will siphon a portion of MP from it. Replenishes MP at a higher rate depending on the source's mana output}

  What stood out the most was the beginning of the description, which stated ‘when attacked by a mana-based attack. I thought back to when I had used it on the mist and managed to clear its effects.

  If it worked on the mist, then this skill must also count magical effects as an attack on me, even if it doesn’t immediately damage me. I would love to test this on poison or something, but I’m not affected by stuff like that.

  Since I didn’t have anything nearby to attack me, I put my tests on hold with that skill and moved on to Flurry Casting.

  Quite honestly, I already had a good idea what that skill did. I mean, the title spoke for itself.

  I focused my magic into three spots around my body, and magic circles appeared in unison with a display of bright red, green and golden glows.

  I fired off all three in concentrated beams, and a small explosion erupted nearby.

  Just as I thought. It basically just fires off more magic attacks at once. Is there really nothing else about this skill, though? My eyes shifted between the magic circles that disappeared, and with some effort, I made them appear again.

  It seems like these things usually just come and go after activating my skill, but can’t I keep them here? It might make attacking a little more seamless, since it’s a waste of time to summon them all over again.

  I fired off another blast of attacks from all three and destroyed a row of trees with ease. The smoke hadn’t entirely risen from the chunk of charred wood when the magic circles at my side glowed brightly and released another volley of attacks.

  I knew it! They can fire infinitely, as long as I have mana to spare. What’s that last skill I got? I pondered, and the information screen appeared a second later.

  {Mana Vault}

  {Gifts a vast pool of Mana, which will replenish automatically over time}

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  This was one of the skills I was most excited about. Even after hours of using magic over and over, I hadn’t really come near my limit. Granted, I wasn’t giving it my all, but even so, it was something I wouldn’t have been able to do before I received that skill.

  ?

  Let’s see how many of these magic circles I can use at once. It almost felt like I was egging myself on as the flow of magic filled the space around me.

  The strain mana had on me was something akin to energy loss. If I had to make a comparison, it felt a lot worse reaching mana fatigue than when I was fatigued in my old life.

  The bright glow of red illuminated the dark forest in a crimson glow that revealed every crevice and corner in the area. Since I had to focus on what element to use when doing magic manipulation, I thought it’d be easier to go with one element for this test.

  My jaw dropped as the sky was completely blocked out by small, glowing circles.

  Just how many is that?! There has to be at least fifty, no, one hundred magic circles… I wonder what I could do with that many? I prepared to fire them off, but stopped right before the energy was released. …better aim this elsewhere, otherwise things could turn bad. Don’t want to start a fire, after all…

  All the circles shifted in one, controlled motion to the sky above. Their detailed patterns spun in place, giving off a clear, crimson heat that erupted in wild explosions of fire. The heat that came off of it was enough to recoil the leaves scattered on the floor beneath me. I couldn’t see a place that its light didn’t touch, like one big firework display.

  Y-yeah, that’s about all I can do without giving in to mana fatigue… I stared, satisfied with the display above me.

  {Skill has evolved into }

  {Skill and has created skill }

  {Warning}

  {You have suffered a heavy loss of MP in a short period. Any further use of mana will result in Mana Fatigue}

  Don’t worry, I’m not planning to push things any further than that. I’ve got a good idea where my limit is now. I just had to see it with my own eyes.

  By the time my MP had replenished, the sun had come up completely, so I made my way to outside the ruins where I’d meet up with Veyra.

  She looked especially cheerful today, more than usual. Her hair, which she usually wore loose, was braided along the sides with beads and flowery charms. It was seriously cute on her.

  What are those? They look good on you! I reached out with my thoughts.

  “T-thank you… It’s from…villagers.” Her lips curled as the thoughts reached my mind. I couldn’t help but notice how happily she clung to her bag of supplies.

  Wait, wasn’t that a lot easier to understand?! Your voice, it’s not as distorted as it usually is! I reached out to grab her shoulders without thinking, and Veyra stared wide-eyed back at me.

  U-uh…sorry…!

  I retreated back a few feet and lowered my hands behind my back as far as I could. I knew my form was a little far from the cute side, so it must have been a little terrifying having me get so close to her and then grab her. I just got more excited than I knew what to do with.

  “I think…right. It feels…easier…talk.”

  Although the distorted glitches were still attached to her voice, it sounded a lot less inhuman. I was glad to see she was getting better. It felt like a sign that we weren’t wasting our time, and that she’d actually get her voice back.

  I wonder what’s changed? Is it because you’re talking more, or did the villagers do something last night to help?

  Veyra put her finger on her lip and tapped it, thinking about it. She returned an equally confused look and shrugged, “Not…sure. I’ll keep…try.”

  Good idea. Either way, I’m excited to hear your voice at peak performance, Veyra. It’s pretty.

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